After all is said and done, one-third of the known members of our new board will have important ties to Barrick Gold:

PARISOTTO, whose Arizona Star Resources Corp was acquired by Barrick Gold in 2007.

BLASUTTI, who is Senior Vice President, Corporate Development for Barrick Gold.

This looks to me like a strong interest by Barrick in NOT. It may be only a matter of time before a formal buy-in is announced by Barrick for a percentage of NOT.

Yes, Barrick has the money, is ruthless, and (like any successful company) wants to buy cheap.

On the other hand, Barrick is big enough to protect NOT from a takeover by any other large mining company. And Barrick's interest is a vote of confidence in the Ring of Fire as a new mining district.

My over all reaction: the compromise worked out by Nemis and Parisotto is a good one. NOT now has a deep-pockets connection it did not have before.

Still holding long and strong...

Rek